The Benefits Of Health Care Reform For Minorities In New Jersey

October 13, 2010 4:56 pm ET

With all the confusion around the passage of the new health care law, many of the benefits have been lost in the mix. Until President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, racial and ethnic minorities were often left out in the cold when it came to accessing affordable, effective, and high quality health care. The Affordable Care Act narrows the disparities in the health care system for minority groups by guaranteeing access to health services.

What Minorities In New Jersey Stand To Gain
With The New Health Care Reform Law...

...Better Disease
Prevention

The Affordable Care Act Will Expand
Preventive Care For Minorities. According to a report by the Kaiser
Family Foundation: "People of color experience higher
rates of many chronic conditions, as well as higher death rates from many of
these conditions compared to whites, and the costs associated with these
diseases are high. The health reform law contains provisions to improve the
overall health of the population through improved access to proven preventive
services, including the establishment of a national prevention trust fund. The
law also calls on the Secretary of Health to develop the first ever national
prevention strategy." [Kaiser Family Foundation, September 2010]

Minorities In New Jersey Have Some Of The
Highest Rates Of Preventable Diseases. Minorities, especially
African-Americans, in New Jersey
have the some of the highest incidences of preventable diseases and resulting
deaths.

Rates Of
Preventable Diseases For African-Americans and Hispanics/Latinos Compared To
Whites In New Jersey
(Per 100,000 Population):

The New Health Care Law Delivers
Free Comprehensive Disease Prevention Services For All New Jersey Residents. The new health care reform law
offers free preventive health services for many common diseases including
monitoring cholesterol, blood pressure and obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis,
hypothyroidism and common sexually transmitted infections (STIs). [U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, August 2010]

The Affordable Care Act Improves The Documentation Of Health Disparities Among Minorities. According to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, the
Affordable Care Act includes "provisions [that] focus on improving data
collection on race, ethnicity, primary language, geographic area, and
disability." Additionally, "the new law would requires [sic] that, to
the extent practical, all federally-funded population surveys to collect enough
data to allow for reliable reporting of racial and ethnic subgroups. These
provisions would greatly improve the ability to document disparities,
especially among some of the smaller populations who are typically either
excluded from the reporting of survey findings, or grouped as 'Other.'" [Kaiser
Family Foundation, September
2010]

...Increased Access To
Medicaid

The Affordable Care Act Will Expand
Access To Medicaid. According
to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation: "The Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act includes a significant expansion of Medicaid. Under the
law, all individuals, regardless of age, sex or parental status, will be
eligible for Medicaid if they meet the income threshold. Individuals with
incomes below 133% FPL (the current poverty level is $10,830 for an individual
and $22,050 for a family of four) will be eligible to receive Medicaid
services. Of the 65 million nonelderly individuals with incomes below 133% FPL,
over 22 million are uninsured, and nearly 6 in 10 are people of color." [Kaiser
Family Foundation, September 2010,
citation removed for clarity, parentheses original]

558,300 New Jersey Residents Will Be Eligible For
Medicaid In 2014. According
to the Kaiser Family Foundation, in 2008, 558,300 New Jersey residents lived below 133% of the
federal poverty line. In 2014, the law will expand access to 144,400 New Jersey residents who
lived between 100-133% below the federal poverty line. [State Health Facts,
accessed 10/8/10;
Kaiser Family Foundation September 2010]

133% Of The Federal Poverty Line Is
Less Than $30,000 For A Family Of Four. According to the
Department of Health and Human Services, the FPL (or Federal Poverty Line) for
an individual is $10,830 and $22,050 for a family of four. Therefore, 133% of FPL is $14,404 for an
individual and $29,327 for a family of four. [ASPE.hhs.gov, 2009 Poverty Guidelines, accessed 10/12/10]

...Tax Credits For
Small Businesses

141,139 Minority-Owned Small
Businesses In New Jersey
Could Benefit From Health Care Tax Credits. According to
the latest data from the Small Business Administration there are approximately
141,139 small businesses owned by minorities in New Jersey, most of which are eligible for
premium health care tax credits in 2010. [Small Business Administration, October 2009]

What Happens To
Minorities Without Health Care Reform...

...Racial & Ethnic Minorities Will
Go Without Health Coverage

Racial And Ethnic Minorities In New
Jersey Would Continue To Be Less Likely To Have
Coverage Than Whites. According to Families USA: "People of racial and ethnic minorities are
more likely to go without health insurance than whites. In New Jersey, 58.1 percent of
Hispanics/Latinos, 39.1 percent of African Americans, and 28.3 percent of
'other' ethnic minorities were uninsured, compared to 22.7 percent of whites."
[Families USA,
March
2009]

...Women Will Continue To Have Poor
Access To Care

Access
And Utilization Disparities Exist Within New
Jersey's Health Care System For Minority Women.The Kaiser Family Foundation
calculates disparities in areas, such as health, by using a disparity score
(the higher the score the greater the disparity). They further explain that "The disparity
score is the factor by which minority women in a state would need to change in
order to achieve parity with the average non-Hispanic White woman in the state...
a score greater than 1.00 indicates that minority women experience health
problems, barriers or socioeconomic disadvantages at rates higher than White
women." New Jersey's
highest disparities include: no health insurance (3.08), late initiation of or
no prenatal care (2.71), and no personal doctor/health care provider (2.14). [Kaiser Family Foundation, June
2009]

Access And Utilization Of New Jersey's Health Care
System Is Average For Minority Women. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, New
Jersey is one of 12 states
whose dimension score for access and utilization of the health care system (the
average of all disparity scores in that dimension) is average:

...African Americans Will Keep Paying
Outrageous Out-Of-Pocket Prices

African Americans Spend More Than $2 Billion A Year In Out-Of-Pocket
Expenses For Health Coverage. According to a report by the Urban
Institute: "[C]onsidering payments made to providers directly by individuals,
we estimate that excess disease prevalence among African Americans results in
more than $2 billion per year in out-of-pocket costs." [The Urban Institute, September
2009]